last monday, i brought my A4 into the shop to have the clutch replaced. it was doneproperly and for a great price. i was a little weary because the car was at the shop for 3 extra days (apparently had some broken seals, minor stuff that added up) and cost an extra $200. fair enough, if you've got the tranny down, i'll be happy to pay for any extra maintenance that should be done. yesterday (friday) the guy called and said it was ready for me to pick up. i ended up having to take the bus there which was a bitch.. paid him for the work, then he mentioned i had an ignition problem.. said it was sticking.. so i thought he was just doing something wrong... when i personally put the key in andturned it to accessory, the car turned on.. and the started kept spinning. wtf. so now i'm thinking that the ignition switch istoast and i have to spend another $100-150 to have that fixed.. so i stop by this morning to see how it is and i see that the ENTIRE DASH has been pulled out and is resting in 40 different pieces everywhere.. i obviously lost it on the guy until he calmed me down and explained what happened.. he showed me some fried wires behind the dash (the worst one was for the airbag).. they had to start replacing fried wires one by one until they found one that was shorting. i asked how a fuse or relay hadn't blown and they had no idea.. so now $500 labour has turned into probably $1500.. i've been swearing enough as it is so i'll keep that out of this post..
now the ignition switch seems like a minor thing... they're gonna take some pictures for me so i'll post them as soon as i get them.

anybody EVER had anything like this before?? is there anything i should watch for?
i have no idea what to do.. i'm good mechanically but not with the electrical stuff which has me extremely worried.. i'm almost tempted to sell it and find another one..

 

A6's are the only cars that i have seen with burnt wiring behind the dash, the previous owner was probably messing with the wiring or something.

 

wait did he start the work with out asking you first? If so you do not have to pay for the repairs! If a shop is doing stuff to your car that you did not OK they can get in big trouble and or not charge you for the repairs. Thats why I do all repairs and maintenance on my car!I rarely let people touch them!

But that really sucks!I hope you get it all worked out! I feel for ya!

 

well the starter is attached to the tranny. maybe the gears aren't touching. and the ignition switch, just DIY it. and the shop is gonna take pics for u? wow if i asked a shop in my area that, they would look at me and laugh.

 

I am anxious to see these pictures!

Josh

 

i gave them the ok to do it. no worries there.
and i wouldn't trust myself to DIY this one.. i'm gonna leave it to them cause like i said, i'm not an expert in electrical stuff..
i'll hopefully have pics by tuesday.

so nobody has had problems with their ignition switches??